The Paideia baseball team had an 8-15 record last year but new head coach Millard Dawson believes with his knowledge of the game and the players’ thirst for success that this spring will be much different for the Pythons.

“We don’t have a young team this year so that is one good thing,” Dawson said. “We have guys who have been accustomed to not going as far as they want to go so I know they are hungry. I know they are going to compete and push forward.”

Dawson hopes his impact will be the greatest as the regular season winds down.

“Over the past couple of years, they have not quite made it over that hump come tournament time and I want to do whatever I can at the end of the day to push them,” he said. “Have them handling adversity, competing with every single pitch so we can be right where we want to be come tournament time.”

The key to accomplishing this will simply require effort, according to Dawson.

“Respect the game and compete whether you are on the mound or in the batter’s box,” Dawson said. “As long as you give 100 percent and leave everything out on the field and know that you did that, you know you are going to be satisfied at the end of the day.”

More than likely, catcher John Michael Boswell will lead the way in this category but the junior can’t do it alone.

“I don’t want to put too much on his shoulders,” Dawson said. “We just can’t depend on one guy to take us where we want to be at the end of the year. It’s going to take a collective effort from every single guy on the roster.”

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